No singular cosmogonic origin is recorded in the supplied sources. The Simonside Dwarfs appear in local tradition as a named race of little people tied to the Simonside Hills; sources note a named leader, Heslop, in local tradition and attest public mentions dating to the nineteenth century (e.g. Morpeth Gazette, 1889) and later folklorist retellings (e.g. Grice 1944). Linguistic discussion in the sources links their regional names (Duergar and dialectal forms) to Border dialect words for 'dwarf' ultimately from Old English dweorh/dweorg, with possible influence from Old Norse dvergar in recorded forms, but no specific creation myth or origin narrative for the beings themselves is provided in the referenced material.
Descriptions vary between accounts; most sources simply characterize them as small/humanoid in the wider English 'dwarf' category. A relatively detailed literary retelling (Frederick Grice, Folk Tales of the North Country, 1944) describes an individual as "short, wearing a lambskin coat, moleskin trousers and shoes, and a hat made of moss stuck with a feather." Beyond such later printed detail, no consistent standardized physical description is attested in the supplied sources.
The supplied material confines their powers to behavioural features recorded in local stories: they delight in leading travellers astray after dark, often carrying lighted torches to lure people into bogs in a manner likened to will-o'-the-wisp behaviour; they may pursue or menace humans (one account relates three dwarfs chasing a man with lighted torches). They are said to vanish at dawn. The sources do not attribute broader magical, cosmically altering, or ritual powers to them.
Weaknesses
- conditiondaylight/dawn ends their activity and causes them to vanish
Wards
- othernone recorded in sources
Billy Blind
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Black Dog (folklore)
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Blunderbore
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Bugbear
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Cap-o'-Rushes
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Church Grim
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Firedrake
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Goblin
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Herne the Hunter
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Community Record
- [1]Simonside Dwarfs (Wikipedia). Wikipedia contributors. "Simonside Dwarfs." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia.wiki
- [2]Simonside Dwarfs (Wikidata). Wikidata entry Q3716097.other
- [3]Folk Tales of the North Country (Frederick Grice, 1944) — retelling. Grice, Frederick. Folk Tales of the North Country (retelling cited in secondary summaries). (1944) — description of clothing appears in folklorist retellings and summaries.folk
- [4]Northumberland Folklore: The Simonside Dwarfs | Stuff & Nonsense. Regional folklore summary on the Simonside Dwarfs.folk
- [5]Duergars of Simonside (The Faery Folklorist blog). Blog post discussing Duergars/Simonside tradition and etymology.folk
- [6]Simonside (Sacred Hill) — The Modern Antiquarian. Site summary noting local traditions and landscape context.other
- [7]Obscure Life-Forms: Duergar. Online compilation noting regional variants and behaviour.other